Employee organizational commitment: the influence of cultural and organizational factors in the Australian manufacturing industry

Abstract

The importance of enhancing employee organizational commitment (EOC) is highlighted by the extensive literature revealing its positive impact on employees' job performance, reducing absenteeism and turnover rates, and improving employees' adaptability to organizational change. This study provides an insight into how EOC levels can be enhanced by examining the contextual factors that can influence EOC. Specifically, the study examines the association between cultural, organizational, and demographic factors with the level of EOC in the Australian manufacturing industry. Data were collected by a survey questionnaire from a random sample of 500 managers with the results revealing that two cultural factors (outcome orientation and stability) and three organizational factors (organizational size, perceived organizational support and job satisfaction) were found to be significantly associated with the level of EOC. Further analysis provides a preliminary insight into how to enhance the EOC of specific managers with different cultural and organizational factors found to be associated with the EOC of managers at different levels in the organizational hierarchy. The findings have important implications for practitioners attempting to improve the level of EOC of their employees with the subsequent enhancements in the level of EOC likely to contribute to improvements in productivity and growth in the Australian manufacturing industry.

Keywords:

• employee organizational commitment (EOC)
• job satisfaction
• manufacturing industry
• organizational culture
• perceived organizational support

Notes

1. Position level was operationalized using four levels of management: chief executive officers; general managers; product and information technology (IT) managers; and plant and quality managers.

2. Items relating to the team work and respect for people dimensions loaded onto the same dimension and were therefore treated as one combined dimension in the subsequent analysis.

3. Task demands are stressors arising from the tasks such as time pressure and incomplete information.

4. Role demands are challenges associated with a role such as role ambiguity and role conflict.

5. The lack of association of this relationship for these managers may be attributed to the routine tasks performed by such managers.